Playmobil Take-Along Pirate Island

“The Playmobil take-along pirate island is detailed enough to really fire up a child’s imagination – with a skeleton, secret hiding places and the rocks that pirates can hide behind.”

Buy online at Argos

Price £19.99

*****

Initial thoughts: The Playmobil take-along pirate island playset is a skull-design rock-face and cave with a sandy beach. The set also includes three pirates, a fantastic cannon that fires ‘rocks’, a rowing boat for a fast getaway, and a treasure chest filled with gold. When your child has finished playing, the beach attaches to the back of the cliff to make a carrying case, that securely holds all the smaller pieces. It’s a snap to put together (under 5 minutes, although your child will almost certainly need adult help).

We liked: There’s the usual Playmobil attention to detail – individually stamped little gold coins, guns, swords, a skeleton that apparently glows in the dark. I like that this is just detailed enough to really fire up Flea’s imagination – she absolutely loved the skeleton, the secret hiding place and the rocks that pirates could hide behind. My Mum helped Flea to put this together and was so impressed she’s already bought one for Flea’s four-year-old cousin.

What really made this toy perfect for Flea was combining it with the large Playmobil pirate ship – she was able to create two tribes of pirates, and having somewhere for the pirates to land and bury their treasure kept her entertained for hours at a time. I liked that it all tidies away into a box that’s small enough to fit into a drawer – once the set is tidied away, it’s smaller than a laptop case.

We weren’t keen: The case is quite tricky to open, but that might have just been my lack of hand-eye coordination. Also, the treasure chest coins are TOO darn small – they’re almost impossible to pick up from a flat smooth surface and I suspect we’re already down 30% on the treasure stocks – Flea’s loss being the Dyson’s gain.

Overall: The Playmobil Take Along Pirate Island is a great value pirate toy that stores away easily, and can be taken with you easily to friends’ houses. Just bear in mind that there are a lot of small pieces, so it’s not for kids who still like to put small things in places where they might cause injuries.